Like
my previous guidees, Janice, Dawn, and Maureen had already done some basic
Valley birding before going out with me, but it sounded like a lot of the back
country birds would be new, so we opted to reverse our original itinerary and
do La Sal del Rey first! Things looked
good when we picked up a White-tailed Kite at a stop light on the way up! Just before the Brushline turnoff we spotted
a Caracara feasting on a rather large road kill!
Even
though it was quite windy to start, things were chirping right at the start of
the road, so we got out and bagged a Bewick’s Wren right away, along with some
Cardinals. Pyrrhuloxia was big on the
want list, and I was hearing them, but they just didn’t want to
cooperate until we got back into the car, crept down, and then the male gave us
a lovely look from the car!
Orange-crowned Warblers and Blue-gray Gnatcatchers would brave the wind
to come out pishing, and Lark Sparrows would pose in the brush (at least until
a Cooper’s Hawk blasted in and broke up the party)! A White-tailed Hawk sat in lousy light
against a pole, but we later got a great look at one in flight that was hanging
with some Turkey Vultures! Caracaras
were all over as well, and another wish came through for the girls when a
Harris’ Hawk flew up on a pole and posed for pictures! Just before SR 186 one of the ag fields had
several American Pipits in it along with some Western Meadowlarks.
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Orange-crowned Warbler (also below)
Male Red-winged Blackbirds hangs with the ladies...
Closer look at the males (the one on the right is an almost-adult)
Harris' Hawk
The
road north of 186 was quite productive:
we came across a small dead snake, and Janice used a nifty little app
called Seek – by taking a picture the thing ID’d it right away as a Texas Rat
Snake! Shortly after that a couple of
“herpers” from the Gladys Porter Zoo wheeled by and actually collected the
thing (and confirmed the ID)! He also
mentioned they had come across a road-killed Bobcat, so we wondered if that’s
what the Caracara was dining on along FM 490!
We come across a road-killed Texas Rat Snake
Janice uses "Seek" to ID it...
...while a herp expert from the Gladys Porter Zoo just happens to wheel by and confirm the ID before collecting it!
A
little further on Janice had just started her PBJ sandwich when her life
Roadrunner appeared on the road ahead of us!
Then one of the gals spotted something big coming through the trees that
turned out to be a huge flock of Sandhill Cranes that actually wheeled low
overhead! Closer to Tres Presas Ranch we
got a Cactus Wren to practically sit on the car, and a pair of Black-throated
Sparrows gave great views! Two "turkeys" graced us: some colorful-headed Wild Turkeys running into the brush, and a brilliantly red-headed Turkey Vulture sitting on some dead wood in the sun! But the real
prize was up at the farm pond: a little
bunting that I assumed was an Indigo at first turned out to be a female-type
Painted Bunting! The funny thing was
that a Pyrrhuloxia was following it around (the only time I ever scolded a Pyrr
to get out of the way J)!
The pond itself had some nice things to pad the list with (a pair of
young spoonbills, both grebes, Pintail, stilts, Least Sandpipers, and other
ducks), and another Harris’ Hawk posed right by the car! We were so engrossed with him that we almost
missed the huge Indigo Snake crossing the road!
The hawk then flew over to the opposite side and looked as though he was
pondering whether to take it on or not…
Eastern Phoebe
Flyover Sandhill Cranes (the higher whistling sounds are made by young birds)
Wild Turkey
Turkey Vulture
Common Ground Dove
Harris' Hawk in an interesting pose...
...perhaps eyeing this Indigo Snake!
Several shots of the female-type Painted Bunting, a rare bird in the winter!
We
picked up the pace as we wanted to give Estero Llano Grande SP some fair time,
so we headed back down and over by way of Ken Baker Road, but we ended up
hitting the brakes for a few things, most notably another Roadrunner! He went into the brush, but after messin’
with him for awhile I gave up as he apparently stayed in the brush, but
as we continued on I suddenly noticed that he had taken up sentry duty in the
tree! We got wonderful looks as he
preened! We had a couple of Fuertes’
Red-tailed Hawks along Ken Baker, and we were almost to the little marsh on Rio
Beef when a few Bobwhite scurried across the road! Some of them actually showed themselves for
the girls!
Roadrunner
We
couldn’t pass up the 1015 Pond since we were going right by it! We wheeled in, and as Janice was getting into
the PBJ sandwich again, her life Mottled Duck decided to take off and land on
the other side of the pond! J We padded the list with Ring-necked Ducks, a
calling Sora, and a Green Kingfisher, then headed on.
Checking out the 1015 Pond
Green Kingfisher
We
sent Janice on ahead once we arrived at Estero (she opted not to use the bushes
along Brushline), but as we three remaining girls headed in, a lovely
Buff-bellied Hummingbird fed at the feeder near the office! (Janice missed that one, of course… L) We spent extended time on deck, enjoying all
the ducks, egrets, and ibis, and had a good enough look at one of the Plegadis
ibis to comfortably call it a White-faced (which was more exciting to the gals
from New Jersey, anyway J).
We found a Cinnamon Teal in Avocet Pond, and while two of the gals were
doing something else, a pair of White-tailed Kites wheeled in the
distance!
Ibis Pond
With namesake White Ibis
Northern Shovelers
We
spent about 15 minutes at the feeders and enjoyed an ice cream, but nothing
came in but Chachalacas, so we headed towards Alligator Lake. We checked out all the ducks at Dowitcher
Pond and added the wintering Spotted Sandpiper that always seems to be there,
but this time the dark ibis closest to us turned out to be the continuing
Glossy, giving us great looks at his white-outlined dark face and dark
eye! Grebe Marsh had both grebes along
with some teal and Shovelers, and the night herons were back at Alligator Lake,
along with an Anhinga! We continued on
to find the Pauraque when one of the gals noticed that someone had drawn an
arrow in the sand and created a “stick arrow” as well, which pointed
right to the bird! That was nice of
them!
On the boardwalk
The wintering Glossy Ibis, told from the White-faced by the slate-colored face and dark eye
Female Blue-winged Teal
Yellow-crowned Night Heron
Black-crowned Night Heron
Shooting the herons
The famous Pauraque
Note the arrows on the ground!
Grebe Marsh has both Pied-billed Grebes...
...and Least Grebes!
After
checking out the overlook (and being wowed by Big Mama Gator – it’s so fun to calmly
say, “Oh, there’s your alligator,” and watch your guidees lose it! J) we headed back
and found an immature hawk at Dowitcher Pond that was in horrible light, but
was really a puzzle: superficially it
looked like a juvie Gray Hawk but the face wasn’t as contrasting as I would
expect, and while there was some spotting on the breast, there wasn’t a
lot. Janice got a nice photo, so once
back at the car she used her “Seek” app on it, and according to that, it was a Gray
Hawk! However, after posting my horrible
pictures on the RGV Birding Facebook page, a pale immature Red-shouldered Hawk
was suggested, which actually made more sense…
Big Mama Gator
Lousy picture of what proved to be a young Red-shouldered Hawk
White Ibises showing off
Gadwall
We
decided to swing through the Tropical Zone by way of the trail in back of the
VC, scaring up a bunch of Inca Doves at the feeders in the process! Some “dark” ibis were in the back side of
Ibis Pond, but in the wonderful afternoon light his red eye was very
obvious! The Screech Owl that allegedly
hangs out in that white shack wasn’t home (I have yet to see it there, actually),
but almost immediately after one of the gals voiced a desire to see an Armadillo, guess what popped up! They were rooting around and came quite
close to us (not surprisingly, as apparently they don’t see too well…)! That started a discussion about the idea of
their spreading leprosy if handled, and a Google search on the way home showed
that was indeed the case – no Urban Legend there!
White-faced Ibis - note the lavender face and red eye, as opposed to the Glossy Ibis
Armadillo!
We
ended the day with an impressive 92 species!
Bird list:
Blue-winged Teal
Cinnamon TealNorthern Shoveler
Gadwall
Mottled Duck
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Ring-necked Duck
Ruddy Duck
Plain Chachalaca
Northern Bobwhite
Wild Turkey
Least Grebe
Pied-billed Grebe
Rock Pigeon
Eurasian Collared-Dove
Inca Dove
Common Ground Dove
Mourning Dove
Greater Roadrunner
Common Pauraque
Buff-bellied Hummingbird
Sora
American Coot
Sandhill Crane
Black-necked Stilt
Killdeer
Long-billed Curlew
Least Sandpiper
Spotted Sandpiper
Greater Yellowlegs
Caspian Tern
Anhinga
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Tricolored Heron
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
White Ibis
Glossy Ibis
White-faced Ibis
Roseate Spoonbill
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
White-tailed Kite
Northern Harrier
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Cooper's Hawk
Harris's Hawk
White-tailed Hawk
Gray Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Green Kingfisher
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Ladder-backed Woodpecker
Crested Caracara
American Kestrel
Peregrine Falcon
Eastern Phoebe
Vermilion Flycatcher
Great Kiskadee
Tropical Kingbird
Loggerhead Shrike
Green Jay
Black-crested Titmouse
Verdin
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
House Wren
Bewick's Wren
Cactus Wren
Curve-billed Thrasher
Long-billed Thrasher
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
House Sparrow
American Pipit
Olive Sparrow
Black-throated Sparrow
Lark Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Western Meadowlark
Altamira Oriole
Red-winged Blackbird
Great-tailed Grackle
Orange-crowned Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Northern Cardinal
Pyrrhuloxia
Painted Bunting
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